Special Gift Opportunities

Designated Giving

Designated giving provides an opportunity to make a memorial gift in the memory of a loved one who has died or to celebrate a life event like a baptism, wedding, graduation, or promotion through a one-time contribution. Gifts may be made by check, online, or by any other accepted means of giving.

Pledging supports our annual operating budget and therefore our regular, ongoing liturgy, community engagement, property upkeep, and ministry. Designated giving by members is discouraged unless the person has already pledged. As a community, we need to work together to finance our common life and mission first before we focus on individual passions and interests.

Designated gifts may be directed to the following ministry areas:

All Saints’ Memorial Fund – Liturgy is at the heart of St. Martin’s. This fund is set aside for improvements to our liturgy and worship. Gifts to this fund may purchase vestments, objects used in worship, or lasting decorations for the church or chapel. People often make gifts to this fund at funerals.

Capital Improvement Fund – Our buildings are beautiful, historical, and in constant need of attention. This fund provides resources to maintain, upgrade, and improve our facilities over time.

The Endowment Fund - The endowment fund generates income every year that is contributed to our operating budget. The principal of this fund stays intact over time and grows. Endowment gifts are best made in large sums. We encourage you to review our Planned Giving materials for additional information on ways to give.

Guatemala Scholarship Fund – Every year we raise funds for our partner parishes in Guatemala so they can help families pay the fees required by their schools. We collect the money in this fund and send it out.

Flower Fund – The St. Martin’s flower guild arranges spectacular flower arrangements every week for worship. These displays remind us of God’s glory in nature. This fund makes their work possible.

Music Fund – Glorious music is a central part of worship at St. Martin’s. The music fund supports special additions to our music like string quartets, brass at Easter, or new robes for the choir.

Rector’s Discretionary Fund – The Rector’s discretionary fund gives the clergy a pool of funds to pull from when un-anticipated requests arise that they would like to respond to. Help with someone’s emergency utility bills, fund a special preacher, purchase a set of books for our library. Leave it up to the Rector’s discretion for what ministry needs performing. First Sunday open-plate offerings go to this fund.

Refugee Fund – Funds go to support the ongoing work of our Refugee Resettlement Ministry. There are ongoing needs for clothing, household goods, rent, utilities, education supplies, transportation, and various fees to get new individuals and families settled and integrated into life in the United States.

SUPPER Fund – SUPPER is a multi-site program offered at 4 Episcopal churches on 5 dates each month. Quickly becoming a major feeding program here in the Wissahickon Deanery, SUPPER has aspirations of further growth. Support to this program helps to cover the ongoing costs of food, supplies, marketing, and support for all of our sites.

Wellspring Fund – Our spiritual outreach ministry is one of our largest touches into the local community. Funding for Wellspring allows us to bring in presenters from a wide array of specialties, market and promote our offerings, and continue to provide affordable programming to all.

Youth Fund – The Youth Fund supports the Youth Pilgrimage every three years. Help make this formative spiritual pilgrimage a reality for all of our youth, no matter their household’s financial status.

Properties Improvement Gifts

If you are looking for a specific item to fund, we suggest the following current needs at St. Martin's. Please contact the Rector if you are interested in funding one of these opportunities.

New Fence for Playground - The wood picket fence around the playground is falling apart and presents a danger to children, as well as a shabby look to our neighbors and guests. We need $7,000 to replace this fence.

New Fence for Rectory - The fence around the Rector’s Garden is rotting and tipping over. We need $4,000 to replace this fence.

Parish Hall A/V System - We need a fully installed projector and screen system for the Parish Hall. This would allow us to use a larger variety of audio/video teaching tools in Adult Forum and other events. The whole installation would cost about $20,000.

Cafe Chairs and Tables for the Hopkins Terrace - Hospitality is always best when we have it outside on the beautiful church terrace. Why not encourage folks to linger longer with lovely cafe tables and chairs? Approximate cost: $600 for a set.

Stations of the Cross for the forest behind the parking lot - Wouldn’t be lovely to meditate while strolling through our wooded knoll on a path of pea of gravel visiting stations formed in the old world style? Approximate cost: $6,000.

Water fountain for joggers, bikers, walkers, and their dogs on the Willow Grove lawn. Approximate cost: TBD

The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel

Rector
(215) 247-7466 ext. 101 |

The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel (he/him) was educated at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He was ordained Priest in 1995 in Danville, Pennsylvania where he worked as a Hospital Chaplain and a Head Start teacher. Pastoral positions followed at the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Flossmoor, Illinois, St. Paul and the Redeemer in Chicago, and then Rector at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Park Ridge, Illinois. After following his wife, the Rev. Dr. Alison Boden, to her new position in Princeton, New Jersey, he was called to be the Executive Director of the Crisis Ministry of Mercer County. The largest food pantry and the gateway agency for Homelessness Prevention services in Mercer County, the Crisis Ministry also runs a Welfare to Work program and an innovative free farmers market. Jarrett became Rector of St. Martin’s in February 2011. He formerly served as the co-chair of Philadelphians Organized to Witness Empower and Rebuild (POWER). Jarrett serves as Dean of the Wissahickon Deanery and is an Associate of the Order of the Holy Cross. He is an Adjunct Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary where he co-teaches a regular class on Faith Based Community Organizing, Theology and Practice. Jarrett has been published in Sojourners, the Huffington Post, Yours the Power, and the Journal of Public Theology. He is the father of two children, Timothy and Martha.

Mike Wolford

Parish Accountant
(215) 247-7466 ext. 108 |

Mike (he/him) lives in Malvern, PA. He has been married to Betsy Wolford since 1990. They have a daughter, Molly, who attends college in Maryland, and an adorable Bichon Frisé. Mike was received into the Episcopal Church in 1993 at Christ Church in Reading, PA after being raised Lutheran. He and his family have been members of Good Samaritan in Paoli since 1998.